MEMPHIS (BP) -- More than 3,600 registrants plan to gather in Memphis to pursue racial unity on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and The Gospel Coalition (TGC) will co-host the event -- "MLK50: Gospel Reflections From the Mountaintop" -- at the Memphis Convention Center half a century after King's slaying on April 4, 1968, in the Tennessee city. The … [Read more...]
Federal court: Do not enforce ‘contraceptive mandate’
DALLAS (GuideStone) – An Oklahoma federal court issued a permanent injunction March 15, prohibiting the federal government from enforcing the contraceptive mandate issued by the Obama Administration in 2013. The mandate, issued under the Affordable Care Act, would have forced certain ministries to provide abortion-causing drugs or devices or face potentially crippling fines. The permanent injunction protects the plaintiffs in the case — Reaching Souls International, an Oklahoma … [Read more...]
SCOTUS hears crisis pregnancy center’s free speech case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An animated U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments March 20, in a case likely to be important to pro-life Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPC’s) across the nation. The outcome could not only affect the freedom of speech for every American, but it could also save innocent lives. California’s Reproductive FACT Act (Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency Act) forces pro-life pregnancy care centers to provide free advertising for the abortion industry. … [Read more...]
New Trump transgender military policy ‘likely’ to stand
WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Trump administration has issued a new directive that permits transgender military service only "under certain limited circumstances." The policy tweak could render moot legal challenges to President Trump's previous ban of transgender troops, says a former military attorney. A presidential memo released late Friday (March 23) revoked Trump's August 2017 directive -- which has been blocked by multiple federal court decisions -- and replaced it with a policy "that … [Read more...]
Protecting the unborn, voting, digging wells
Missouri has become one of the nation’s strongest defenders of the unborn, and that reputation will be enhanced if the General Assembly passes the “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.” The bill will soon be debated in the House of Representatives. It will prevent abortions on preborn babies over 20 weeks gestation, when science and medical practice confirm that preborn babies can feel pain. We join Missouri Right to Life and other pro-life organizations in urging its passage. It would … [Read more...]
Religious liberty ruled no basis for transgender policy
CINCINNATI (BP) -- Religious freedom provides no legal basis to discipline transgender workers who violate workplace gender policies, a U.S. appeals court has ruled in a groundbreaking decision. The March 7 decision is the first to extend Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 to transgender individuals charging discrimination based on sexual identity, and reverses a lower court ruling that had protected the workplace under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act … [Read more...]
Faith group regains campus status after suing college
DETROIT (BP) -- A Christian student group dispelled from a public university for requiring chapter leaders to be Christian has been readmitted. But attorneys say the school's change of heart is hardly adequate. Wayne State University (WSU) recertified InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as an official campus student group two days after InterVarsity filed a lawsuit against WSU, the university said in a March 8 statement to media. InterVarsity's legal representative the … [Read more...]
The shape of theological disaster
Some of us lived through the “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention. Some of you were too young, and have only heard your pastor talk about it from time-to-time. If you ever wondered why we needed to fight the fight over biblical authority (it was a 20-year battle) ... here it is. ... Today we’ll see the shape of theological disaster. One point is clear throughout church history theological disaster almost never strikes out of the blue. Trouble seems to build and … [Read more...]
Parents lose custody of transgender teen
CINCINNATI, Ohio (BP) -- An Ohio couple on Friday (Feb. 16) lost permanent custody of their teenage daughter because they didn't want her to undergo sex-change treatment. Cincinnati-area Juvenile Court Judge Sylvia Hendon removed the girl from her parents' custody and turned her over to her maternal grandparents, who support the 17-year-old's desire to identify as a boy. The teen moved in with her grandparents early last year. The names of the girl and her parents and … [Read more...]
SBC Executive Committee considers DC convention, mission board merger
NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee has given the District of Columbia Baptist Convention (DCBC) 90 days to "secure" the "the removal of any churches from its fellowship that have demonstrated a faith or practice affirming, approving or endorsing homosexual behavior," according to a recommendation adopted by the EC Feb. 20. If such churches remain in friendly cooperation with the DCBC after that period, the DCBC will lose its authorization "to receive and … [Read more...]
Generational differences, not troubling, explained
One of the most misunderstood issues some younger Southern Baptists have about their more senior Southern Baptists is that the “old gray-hairs” care little to nothing about the poor or social issues when it comes to public policy. Another, closely related, is that older Southern Baptists confuse Christianity with the Republican Party. Perhaps an attempt to shed some light – rather than heat – on both misunderstandings is in order. Southern Baptists care about social issues – and … [Read more...]
St. Louis churches being ‘Good Neighbors’ to refugees
ST. LOUIS - Since 2016, the Good Neighbor Initiative has worked to bring Mark 12:31 to life as cities like St. Louis become home to refugees from around the world. That verse reads: “’You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” At least 41 refugees arrived in St. Louis last year, from countries like Afghanistan, the Congo, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan and Syria. The Good Neighbor Initiative, a partnership between St. Louis Metro Baptist … [Read more...]
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